


Gifts and Gaffes

by la luna (moontrimmer)



Series: Encantadas [2]
Category: Amar a Muerte (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Magic, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-08 06:24:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19101505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moontrimmer/pseuds/la%20luna
Summary: Valentina tries to give Juliana a couple of presents, but Juls doesn't receive it as well as Val had expected.Or...Their first fight, and the magical and not-so-magical ways they deal with it





	Gifts and Gaffes

**Author's Note:**

> This is still set in my Harry Potter AU, but you don't need to know much about the Wizarding World here.
> 
> Maybe just one thing: a "knut" is the smallest unit of wizard money.

“ _Ay, Val, despacio,_ ” Juliana calls out even as she lets Valentina pull her by the hand along the hallway.

Valentina stops abruptly and turns around. “ _Perdón!_ ” she says, stepping back and intertwining her arm with Juliana’s.

“It’s okay,” Juliana says, squeezing Valentina’s hand in emphasis. Valentina’s bright eyes are focused on her, and Juliana can’t help but smile. “Are we going back to the common room? Don’t you want to go flying?”

It has only been a month since they’ve properly met but already the two girls are inseparable. Every weekend, Valentina has been teaching Juliana how to fly on a broom, an activity that both terrifies and excites her. On that particular Saturday, however, it seems like Valentina has other ideas.

“Yeah, but I have some--” Valentina starts to answer before biting down on her lip. “I-- I need to get something first,” she says, trying and failing to suppress a smile. “You’ll see…. You’ll know! When we get there.”

Juliana giggles at Valentina’s non-answer, which causes Valentina to laugh as well.

Valentina puts one hand on their already joined ones. “Come on,” she says, motioning forward with a nod.

Juliana happily complies and they continue walking, their intertwined arms leaving little space between them that they almost trip over each other’s feet.

 

There are several students hanging out in the Pukwudgie common room, but both girls pay them no mind. Valentina pulls Juliana towards one of the wooden circular tables arranged at random around the room. The table is by the window, unoccupied save for Valiant, Valentina’s great gray owl. As Valentina and Juliana approach, he proudly motions towards the package next to him with his beak.

“Valiant!” exclaims Valentina, her accent wrapping around the English name. “ _Gracias!_ ” she says, stroking the owl’s head.

Valiant preens.

Juliana stares at owl and owner fondly for a moment before reaching out to stroke the owl’s chest. “ _Hola, Valiant._ ”

The owl responds with a satisfied noise.

Valentina lets go of Juliana’s hand to fish out a pack of owl treats from her robe pocket. She feeds a handful to the owl and thanks him again before letting him go to rest in the Owlery. Finally, she turns to the package and picks it up.

Juliana eyes the expensive-looking brown parchment used to wrap the package. “What is it? Is that the book you ordered?”

“Actually,” Valentina turns to her. “This is for you,” she says, thrusting the package towards Juliana in emphasis.

Juliana reaches her hands out in reflex, but doesn’t accept the package. “What?” She looks up to meet Valentina’s shining blue eyes. “What-- Val, I didn’t order anything.”

“I know, silly,” Valentina says with a fond smile at Juliana. “I ordered it for you.”

Juliana accepts the package after a moment’s hesitation. She returns Valentina’s beaming smile with an uncertain one and slowly starts opening it. Valentina bounces on her feet.

Juliana realises what is in the package before she even fully unwraps it. Valentina has gotten her a set of Magic Motion coloured pens, which is used to make moving drawings. On top of that, there is a bottle of Excite-a-Sketch, a potion used to make non-magical drawings move.

“Val,” Juliana says, trying to wrap the package back up. “I can’t afford this.” She knows how much they cost because she has already looked them up. And maybe it isn’t much for most people, but Juliana can’t afford even a single knut of it.

“Yeah,” says Valentina, confused at the less-than-warm reception of her gift. “I’m giving it to you.”

“Val,” Juliana almost whines. “No.”

Valentina’s frowns. “Don’t you like it?” she asks with a pout.

“That’s not it,” Juliana says evenly, trying to keep her frustration at bay.

“Then what’s wrong?” Valentina asks softly.

Juliana lets out a big exhale.

_What’s wrong?_

What’s wrong is that only a week ago she was looking at those exact same items in a shopping catalogue that her classmates were passing around, and when one of her classmates asked if she was planning to get them, she had to tell said classmate that she couldn’t. And maybe she was just imagining the judging look her classmate gave her, but she definitely wasn’t imagining the way Lucho and Nayeli sneered at her when she ran into them at a hallway without Valentina around. And maybe she was wrong about the look of pity she thinks Jane and Lina gave her when she finally told them that her family lives in a trailer, but she knew she wasn’t wrong about the look of reservation Eva Carvajal gave her when Valentina introduced them.

Juliana came to Ilvermorny with absolutely nothing to her name but a few items of clothing, an old sketchbook, and a set of worn out coloured pencils. Professor Borges, the Muggle Studies teacher who served as her guide to Ilvermorny, told her that she has nothing to worry about because the school will provide for everything. The professor was telling the truth, Juliana didn’t have to pay for anything; not for her wand, not for her books and school supplies, and not for her brand new school robes. But Professor Borges left out one crucial piece of information: that Juliana is only able to study at Ilvermorny without paying for anything because rich families like the Carvajals shoulder everything for those who can’t afford it. She had to find that out from _Lucho_ , who told her that their families, his and Valentina’s and their other friends’ families, are the reason why she is at Ilvermorny.

Now, as Juliana looks at the art set Valentina has gotten her, she feels like it’s just one more thing she owes Valentina and her family. It’s one thing for Valentina to lend Juliana one of her magically heated casual robes so Juliana can wear something other than school robes to keep warm on weekends, it’s another thing for her to buy a brand new art set for Juliana.

She doesn’t tell Valentina any of that. Instead, she says, “Val, I just… I can’t-- I can’t take this.”

Juliana tries to give the package back to Valentina, looking around if any of the other Pukwudgie students have realised what was going on. She doesn’t want any of them to think that she is just taking advantage of Valentina, especially not Guille, Valentina’s brother, and not even Sergio. Thankfully neither boy is in the common room, and the other students aren’t paying them any attention.

“Why not?” Valentina asks, stubbornly refusing to take the package back. “It’s a surprise, my gift for you.”

Just then, the frustration Juliana has been feeling bubbles up to the surface. “Val!” she exclaims, doing her best to keep her voice low. “You can’t just-- I don’t want-- I know I can’t afford it,” she says, voice almost breaking, “but that doesn’t mean I wanted you to--”

Juliana stops speaking as a sob threatens to escape her. Realising Valentina isn’t going to take it, she puts the package on the table.

“Juls?” Valentina whispers.

Juliana steps back.

“Juls,” Valentina says, more urgently this time. “I don’t--”

Juliana shakes her head. Is she just a charity case to Valentina? Was that what _Lucho_ tried to tell her, that day Valentina introduced them, and she was just too stupid to realise it?

Bile rises up her throat at the thought.

With that, Juliana turns on her heel and walks out of the common room, leaving a confused Valentina in her wake.

*

It takes several minutes after Juliana left before Valentina remembers to move. She picks up the half-unwrapped art set from the table and hugs it to her chest, sniffing as her tears threaten to fall.

She doesn’t know why Juliana reacted badly. She only wants to give her the art set because she knows Juliana has been wanting them. Juliana’s drawings are so beautiful and Valentina loves them even when they’re not in motion, but she knows Juliana wants to try making moving drawings. So why didn’t she accept Valentina’s gift?

Valentina wipes at her watery eyes, not knowing what to do. She looks around, checking if anyone saw Juliana walk away from her. The sixth year prefect catches her gaze, looking concerned. Valentina turns away from him and, not wanting to deal with other students, she hurries to her dorm room with her head bowed and the package still tightly clutched to her chest.

To Valentina’s relief, none of her fellow third-year Pukwudgie girls are in the dormitory when she gets there. She likes all of her classmates but she doesn’t want to have to talk to them now.

She walks over to her desk and drops the package on top of it. She looks to the wall by the desk, where she put up the drawing Juliana gave her a couple of weeks ago, right next to her poster of the Mexican National Quidditch Team from last year’s World Cup.

The drawing depicts the valley below Mount Greylock, where Ilvermorny is situated, at an angle that few get to experience. It’s one of Valentina’s favourite views, special because it can only be seen when flying up high over the castle’s many towers. Valentina told Juliana that during the first time she took Juliana up on her broom. Juliana clung to her so tightly then and Valentina was quick to return to the ground when she realised that Juliana was scared. She didn’t think Juliana took in the view of the valley, much less remembered it enough to draw it.

Yet, Juliana did, and she gave the drawing to Valentina. It’s done in Muggle coloured pencils, but it’s magical to Valentina all the same. She’s never received something so beautiful.

Valentina stares sadly at it for a long moment before shaking her head.

She doesn’t like feeling like this. She’s hurt but she’s also mad at herself, and she’s _scared_. What if Juliana doesn’t want to be friends with her anymore? Unable to take it any longer, she runs out of her dormitory, through the common room -- ignoring Sergio’s questions as she bumps into him -- and out of the castle, intent on doing the one activity that is guaranteed to always make her forget any bad thing she is feeling.

*

Juliana has tamped down everything she’s feeling by the time she runs into Jane and Lina in one of the castle’s covered courtyards. She is walking around, lost in her thoughts, when she hears the two best friends call her over to their table. Juliana pauses for a second before heading over to their direction.

“Hi!” both Jane and Lina greet her warmly as she sits on the bench next to Lina.

“I thought you went flying with Valentina?” Lina asks, closing the magazine she’s reading.

Suddenly, bile starts bubbling up Juliana’s throat again. She swallows it down. “Yeah, but… um…”

Jane and Lina wait for her to continue until it becomes clear to them that she isn’t planning to.

Jane, who’s writing what looks like a long essay on a piece of parchment, puts her quill down and gives Juliana a questioning look from across the table. “What happened?”

Juliana lets out a sigh and crosses her arms. Then she uncrosses it and raises a hand up to her mouth to chew at her fingers. She chances a look at Jane and Lina’s expectant faces before dropping her hands to the wooden table. She studies the patterns of its grains, scratching at an invisible piece of dirt.

“We had a fight,” Juliana admits eventually.

“You and Valentina?” says Lina.

“Why?” Jane asks.

Juliana looks up to see that their eyes have gone wide. She lets out a breath. “She tried to give me that Magic Motion pen set.”

Several seconds pass before Lina asks, in one prolonged syllable, “ _Aaaanndd?_ ”

Juliana shrugs, not feeling particularly inclined to share anything more.

“Wait,” says Jane. “That’s it? Are you mad because she tried to give you something?”

Juliana scratches the side of her neck. “It’s just that--” Juliana stops, trying to swallow the ugly feeling in her chest. Jane and Lina’s faces morph into earnest expressions of concern, and that encourages Juliana to continue. “It feels like charity,” she says flatly.

Jane and Lina look at each other, then back at Juliana.

“I don’t think Valentina thinks of it that way,” Lina says after a moment.

Juliana gives another shrug, hoping it came off as casual. She doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“You know,” Jane begins, “there was a point when I was younger when the only things my family could afford were the weekly groceries.”

Juliana looks sharply up at Jane, wondering what she’s trying to say, because Juliana knows what’s it like _not_ being able to afford even the weekly groceries.

“I don’t know what it’s like to go hungry,” Jane continues, and Juliana looks away, because she does. “But, like, I didn’t have anything much else either. And I remember really wanting to get this new book by my favourite author, but my mom was between jobs and my _abuela_ was sick. We couldn’t afford it at the time, and I thought… it was fine because it’s not a necessity.

“But you know what Lina did?” Jane says, motioning to her best friend, who gives her a sweet smile. “She bought me the book with the money she’s been saving to buy a pet Kneazle.”

“Well I ended up adopting Mario instead, so like, it’s a win-win!” Lina pipes up, meaning her flat-faced pet cat whom she keeps claiming to be the “handsomest boy ever”.

“Lina, I’m trying to make a point,” Jane protests half-heartedly.

Juliana smiles despite herself.

Jane turns back to her. “This one,” she gestures to Lina again, “bought me a book I didn’t really _need_ with her own damn money. I didn’t think it was ‘charity’. She just did it because she’s the bestest best friend ever.”

“Aww, you’re the bestest best friend ever too,” says Lina. “And, like, I only did it because I know how much you wanted it.” She turns to Juliana, “She literally couldn’t stop talking about it for _months_. And,” she turns back to Jane, “it’s not like you don’t do things for me too. Like, you always help me with Transfiguration and Charms. And Defense. And History of Magic, which is the most boring thing ever! I don’t care what some dead wizard did, I just don’t.”

Juliana chews on her lip, thinking of how excited Valentina looked when trying to give her that art set. Her stomach churns as she remembers the way Valentina’s face fell when she refused it.

“Are you saying I took it the wrong way?”

Jane shrugs as if to say, _you’re the only one who can say that_.

Juliana thinks of how mad Valentina got at Lucho when he arrogantly told Juliana that her education was sponsored by rich wizarding families. It felt so demeaning when Lucho rubbed it in her face and Valentina’s other friends laughed with him, but Valentina stopped talking to them because of that. She only just made up with Sergio after he apologised to Juliana.

“I-- I shouldn’t have gotten mad at Val,” Juliana says her realisation out loud. She shouldn’t have thought ill of Valentina, she isn’t like her friends. She’s the most honest and genuine person Juliana has ever met.

Jane and Lina nodded slowly at her in unison.

“I have--” Juliana says as she jumps from the bench, almost falling over it in her hurry. “I have to go. I-- I need to tell Val I’m sorry.”

She bids Jane and Lina a quick goodbye. The two friends yell their encouragements at her retreating back but Juliana barely hears them. She can only think of Valentina, fervently wishing she will forgive her for her stupid outburst.

 

Valentina isn’t in the Pukwudgie common room, but Juliana wasn’t expecting her to be. Juliana heads for the girls’ dormitories, walking past the room she shared with the other first years and going to the third years’ room instead. There is no one in the room and Juliana is about to back out when an object on Valentina’s desk catches her attention.

Juliana strides over to the desk and picks up the package she stubbornly refused earlier. She unwraps it fully now, taking out the box of Magic Motion pens and the jar of Etch-a-Sketch potion. It occurs to her that the Magic Motion set Valentina got actually consists of _pens_. The ones Juliana saw on her classmate’s shopping catalogue were quills, and she remembers thinking about how difficult it would be to draw with quills and wondering if they have a pen or pencil equivalent. Apparently they do, and Valentina clearly thought of that.

Juliana’s stomach churns with guilt. Her need to find Valentina, to apologise and to make up for her behaviour, increases in urgency.

She puts the art set carefully back on Valentina’s desk and hurries out of the dormitories and back to the Pukwudgie common room. She makes a beeline for the exit but she finds her way blocked by Sergio.

“ _Oye, a dónde--?_ ” he starts but Juliana cuts him off.

“Sergio, have you seen Val?”

“Yes,” Sergio replies after a beat. “She came through here in a hurry too.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“No, but… she looked upset? And when she’s like that, she--”

“Of course,” Juliana cuts Sergio off again. “I gotta go,” she bids unceremoniously, leaving the boy blinking in confusion after her.

Juliana spares no thought for him. She knows where Valentina is now. It’s one of the first things she learned about her. When Valentina is upset, she always goes flying to make herself feel better. Juliana hates that it’s because of her, but she’s determined to make up for it.

*

Valentina stares up at the sky, its blues interrupted only by the occasional wisps of clouds, mirroring her watery eyes. She’s sitting on the roof of one of Ilvermorny’s tallest towers, leaning against the high parapet that hides everything but the sky from her view. Her owl Valiant is perched up on the battlement, just above Valentina’s head. Every few minutes, he would take off and fly around the tower before landing on the battlement again. Each time he lands, he would give Valentina a curious look which she would return with a pout.

She meant to go flying around the castle grounds, but she was too upset to concentrate on steering her broom for too long. Instead, she directed her broom to this tower and alighted on the roof. She was surprised to see that Valiant had followed her, but she was glad for his presence. She spent a good several minutes crying her heart out to him over Juliana’s rejection of the gift that he brought to them himself.

Valentina has been to the tower roof twice before, both times when she was feeling particularly upset. It’s her secret spot, something none of her friends know about. She’s certain that no one else comes up there because it’s magically hidden from view to anyone who’s more than a few feet away from the tower. She found it by accident on the first week of her first year, when she was trying to escape everyone who wanted to tell her how they knew her mom and how sorry they were for her death. The second time she came up there was towards the end of her second year, when she and her friends got in trouble for sneaking out of school on a dare and going down to the Muggle-inhabited valley below. Eva got so mad that she told their dad that Valentina should be homeschooled, but their dad barely scolded Valentina.

Valentina was glad that their dad didn’t listen to Eva. She was even more thankful for it after she met Juliana, but now she doesn’t know if Juliana would ever want to talk to her again.

She feels an invisible hand squeeze her heart at the thought.

She thinks that maybe she should get up and go find Juliana, ask her what she was so mad about and try to fix it, but every time she remembers how Juliana stormed away from her she can’t bring herself to move. Part of her wants to go find her other friends but she’s still mad at Nayeli and Lucho, and she knows Sergio, who’s also starting to become friends with Juliana, would just ask about her.

So Valentina stays on the tower roof with only her gray owl for company. At least Valiant would never want to stop being friends with her.

*

Juliana couldn’t find Valentina.

Valentina’s broom wasn’t in its rack in the broom shed, so she knew that Valentina had gone flying, but she looked all over and she couldn’t find her around or _above_ the castle grounds. Juliana even braved riding one of the school’s old brooms, hoping to get a better vantage point, but she has barely learned how to steer and all she got out of the whole attempt is a bruise on her knee from crashing into a tree.

When it became clear that she wouldn’t find Valentina in the grounds outside, Juliana enlisted Lina’s help to check if Valentina was in the Wampus common room with Lucho or Nayeli. She wasn’t, so Juliana sought Valentina in her favourite haunts around the castle -- the hidden art room, the Thunderbird trophy room, a decommissioned Charms classroom that still has the requisite feather-stuffed pillows and bean bags, and even that one corner in the library where Valentina pretends to study when she’s really just reading one of those Muggle fiction books she likes so much.

Still, Juliana couldn’t find Valentina.

Presently, realising that she has run out of options, Juliana decides to back to the Pukwudgie common room. She knows Valentina will need to get back to the dormitories eventually, so the best thing she can do is wait.

Once she arrives at the common room, she makes her way to the third year girls’ dormitory, intending to do the one thing she should have done from the very beginning. She’s almost certain that Valentina won’t be in the dorm, but her stomach still falls anyway when she doesn’t find her there.

Juliana walks over to Valentina’s desk. The art set and the brown wrapping paper are still where she left them, unmoved, so she knows that Valentina hasn’t come back. She folds the wrapping paper and pockets it before picking up the magical coloured pens and potion jar. She holds them close to her chest as she looks up at the wall by the desk.

Valentina has put up the drawing Juliana gave her on the wall, right next to her poster of the Mexican Quidditch Team. Juliana is still not completely clear on the rules of Quidditch, but Valentina is a huge fan of the sport and an even bigger supporter of the Mexican team. It always brings a smile to Juliana’s face to see her drawing right next to a poster of something Valentina loves so dearly. Now she looks at both images thoughtfully. She owes Valentina an apology and she doubts that she can say how truly sorry she is in words. Maybe she can express it in other ways.

 

Juliana picks a table at the far corner of the Pukwudgie common room. It’s far enough from the fireplace where most of the other students are gathered so that she’s out of everyone’s way, but it also provides her with a good vantage point of the entrance to the common room. She spreads her things out on the table: her old sketchbook and coloured pencils, several sheets of parchment that she got from one of the communal supply cabinets, the Magic Motion pens and the jar of Etch-a-Sketch potion, and finally an art instruction book that she got from the library after nervously asking for recommendations from one of the staff.

After several minutes of reading a long introduction and a couple of instructions, Juliana sets aside her old sketchbook and coloured pencils along with the Etch-a-Sketch potion. According to the art book, drawing something by “non-magical” means and soaking it in potion generally produces better results, but it needs to be left overnight in a dark room. Juliana wants to get something done by the time Valentina comes back, so she decides on using the Magic Motion pens.

It takes Juliana almost an hour to get used to sketching with the magical pens and yet another half hour to cast an animation spell without making the ink spread into an ugly blot, but eventually she manages to make a rough sketch of a bird fly from one side of the parchment to the other. She practices with a few more moving sketches to get a better feel for the new technique.

Everyone else has gone down for dinner when Juliana finally feels confident enough to make something more than a rough sketch, but she does not concern herself with a skipped meal. Instead she takes out the red and green pens, along with the black, gold, and silver ones, then starts drawing in earnest.

*

Valentina stirs from slumber at the soft but insistent prods on her forehead. She swats at its source and is rewarded with an offended squawk that fully wakes her up. It takes her some time to get her bearings, but eventually she realises that she’s still up on a tower roof. Sweeping back stray strands of her hair, she notices her owl on the floor next to her, looking ruffled.

“Valiant,” she says. The owl gives her a reproachful look in response. Ignoring it, she asks of no one in particular, “What time is it?”

She remembers observing the sky slowly going from blue to sunset red to black, but she doesn’t remember dozing off. She rubs at her eyes then looks up at the night sky. Going by the position of the stars, she reckons that it’s almost midnight. Thankfully she had the foresight to cast a warming charm, or she would have gotten frostbite by now despite her heated robes.

“I should probably go back.”

Valiant makes a soft squawking sound and flaps his wings. Valentina takes it for agreement.

“Thanks for staying with me, Valiant,” she tells the owl softly as she picks up her broom. She sighs, remembering why she’s in the tower roof with just Valiant for company in the first place. She still doesn’t really know why Juliana got mad at her, but she can’t stay in that tower roof forever.

Valentina puts a leg over her broom and gives the floor a slight kick for take off. The broom’s magic immediately takes over and she’s aloft in the air like a feather. She leans forward and the broom responds easily, moving in the direction she intended it to go, away from the tower. She looks back to see Valiant following her. Behind him, the tower disappears before her eyes as she gets far enough away from it.

Valiant flies with her for a moment longer, then he circles around her a few times, pecks affectionately at her shoulder, and veers off in the direction of the Owlery. Valentina hovers in the air and calls out a soft “bye” before steering her broom towards the ground.

She lands smoothly on the grass next to the large broom shed at the edge of the Quodpot pitch. Entering the shed, she places her Nimbus XV in the rack specially reserved for it and goes back out without lingering.

Outside, she gazes down the length of the Quodpot pitch. She does not care for the US-American sport so she only ever passes through the pitch when she’s going back to the castle after dropping off her broom at the shed. That night, she sees a group of students huddled at the other end of the pitch. It’s not particularly surprising; students sometimes sneak out at night to gather at the pitch for a variety reasons that would land them in detention if they were caught. Valentina herself has been to a few of those gatherings, the last one involving the dare that made her and her friends sneak out of the school grounds.

As she nears the group in the pitch, Valentina is not surprised to see Lucho, Nayeli, and even Sergio among a group of older students.

“Valentina!” Lucho calls loudly out to her. He smirks, looking quite full of himself in the company of older boys, one of whom is his brother. “Come join us.”

Valentina scowls at him, irritated that he seems to have forgotten that she is mad at him for what he said to Juliana. A thought niggles at the back of her mind, but it doesn’t get a chance to form as Sergio breaks away from the group to approach her.

“Vale,” he calls out, much softer than Lucho did. “Where were you? I didn’t see you at dinner. Eva was looking for you. I had to tell her that you and Juliana were doing homework, she didn’t go to dinner either. I’m not sure if Eva--”

“Juliana wasn’t at dinner?” Valentina asks, biting her lip.

“She was doing something in the common room, she ignored me when I tried to talk to her. But she was actually looking for you too.”

Valentina’s heart skips a beat. She looks sharply up at Sergio. “She was?”

“Yes, why--”

“I need to go,” Valentina says urgently.

“I’ll go with you,” Sergio says. “These guys are a bit much anyway,” he admits in a whisper when she frowns questioningly at him.

Valentina looks over at the other students. Seeing her attention on them, Lucho tries to get her to join again. She rolls her eyes at him, glances at Nayeli, then resumes walking to the castle. Sergio follows her, but she has only taken a few steps before she turns back.

“Have you changed your mind?” Lucho says, grinning.

Valentina ignores him and catches Nayeli’s eyes instead. She’s still mad at her, but Nayeli is the only girl in the group and Valentina’s not about to leave without trying to get Nayeli to do the same.

“You can come with us,” she tells the other girl.

Nayeli hesitates, but then she breaks away from Lucho and the older students, ignoring their calls of protests. Satisfied that Nayeli is joining her and Sergio, but still not wanting to talk to her, Valentina turns and takes long purposeful strides back to the castle. Sergio and Nayeli hurry to catch up and the three of them cross the grounds in silence.

Nayeli speaks up as they enter the castle’s foyer. “Vale,” she begins, stopping them by the large hallway that leads to the inner chambers of the castle, “I-- th-- I’m sorry Juliana was insulted that day you introduced us. Lucho just made a stupid joke and I laughed, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Valentina pushes her tongue out to one side of her cheek and takes a deep breath before answering. “I’m not the one you should be apologising to.”

Nayeli frowns, then looks over at Sergio, who gives her a nod. “Okay,” she says after a moment. “Okay. I-- I’ll talk to Juliana.”

Valentina barely notices their exchange or Nayeli’s hesitant agreement. She has finally realised why Juliana got so mad. She recalls how wounded Juliana looked when Lucho said that students like her owe their education to rich wizarding families. She remembers how Juliana insisted on _only_ borrowing the heated robes she meant to give to her, and how she had to cajole Juliana into letting her order some Fizzing Whizzbees for her. Valentina is still struggling to understand why, but she does know that Juliana feels uncomfortable receiving anything from her that costs more than a bag of candies. She should not have surprised Juliana with that art set.

With that thought, Valentina rushes out a goodbye to Nayeli and starts making her way back to the Pukwudgie common room, Sergio hurrying after her.

As their footsteps echo in the empty hallways, Valentina considers going up to Juliana’s dorm room to wake her up but quickly dismisses it. She wonders if she would get in trouble if she camps outside the first year girls’ dormitory to wait for Juliana to wake up in the morning. She’s debating with herself on whether staying overnight right outside of dorm rooms count as breaking curfew when she and Sergio finally arrive at the Pukwudgie common room.

Valentina immediately notices the lone figure slumped against a table at one corner of the room, clearly asleep. Her heart jumps. She knows it’s Juliana from the fall of her dark hair.

“Who-- is that Juliana?” Sergio whispers. “I don’t think she’s moved from there at all. Should we wake her up?”

“I’ll wake her,” Valentina says quickly. “You go ahead,” she tells Sergio, motioning at the door that leads to the boys’ dormitories.

Sergio doesn’t need telling twice, and he starts heading to the boys’ dormitories with a yawn.

Valentina waits until he’s disappeared behind the door before walking towards Juliana. As she approaches, she sees the art set she wanted to give to Juliana on the table, arranged neatly on top of Juliana’s old sketchbook. Her stomach flutters at the sight and she almost cries in relief. It seems like Juliana has decided to accept her gift after all. She hopes it means that Juliana’s no longer mad at her.

She sits down on the chair next to Juliana then reaches out and tucks stray strands of hair behind her ear. Juliana looks so peaceful that Valentina almost regrets having to wake her up, but she doesn’t want her sleeping in an awkward position in a cold area of the common room. She doesn’t even know how Juliana could sleep through such discomforts.

Valentina lets her hand fall down from Juliana’s hair to her shoulders. “Juls,” she says softly. She shakes Juliana’s shoulders lightly and repeats, just a tiny bit louder, “Juls.”

Quite suddenly, Juliana jolts awake and sits up. Valentina drops her hand in surprise, not expecting Juliana to wake up so quickly. There’s a panicked look in Juliana’s eyes as she looks around and Valentina reaches out again to give Juliana’s arm a gentle rub.

“ _Juls…. Oye, soy yo._ ”

Juliana locks eyes with Valentina and her shoulders finally relax. “Val?” she says, her gaze darting around Valentina’s face. “Val!” she cries out, then throws her arms around Valentina.

Valentina returns Juliana’s embrace willingly. She closes her eyes and lets her head sink down to Juliana’s shoulder even as she tightens her arms around Juliana.

Juliana pulls away after a moment, but she keeps her hands on Valentina’s shoulders. “Val, where were you? I was looking for you.”

“You were?” Valentina asks in wonder even though Sergio already told her the same thing. “I-- I was at this tower. It’s invisible, but--”

“ _Qué?_ ” Juliana says, sitting back in confusion and taking her hands away from Valentina’s shoulder in the process. “Invisible?”

Instinctively, Valentina leans forward slightly and grabs Juliana’s hand. “I’ll show it to you tomorrow,” she says, giving a smile which Juliana returns easily. She thinks about why she was hiding out in the tower in the first place and her expression turns serious. “Juls,” she begins, staring down at their joined hands and giving a squeeze. “I want to tell you I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you, honestly.” She looks up at Juliana, “ _Lo siento._ ”

Juliana squeezes back at Valentina’s hand even as she meets her gaze. “Val, no. I should be the one who’s sorry.” She bites her lip and looks down, “I-- I overreacted and left…. I didn’t want to feel bought by you but--” she looks up to meet Valentina’s eyes again, “I know you’re not like that.”

Valentina starts smiling again, “I understand.” She glances at the Magic Motion pen set and the jar of Etch-a-Sketch potion on the table. “Did you try them out?” she asks, warmth spreading from her chest at the thought of Juliana finally accepting her gifts.

“Yeah,” says Juliana, drawing her hand back to tuck her hair behind her ear. She runs a finger over an eyebrow and clears her throat. “I, uh--” she twists around and pulls her sketchbook out from under the Magic Motion pens and puts it on her lap. Her eyes are bright when she looks at Valentina again. “I made you something... as an… apology, for behaving badly. And as a thank you, for the art set.”

Valentina stares as Juliana slowly takes a piece of parchment out of her sketchbook, then gapes, jaws dropping slightly, as she sees what it is. Juliana has drawn Valentina on a broom, wearing her favourite black and silver flying robes. She’s flying across the parchment, her hair streaming behind her as though in a breeze. Valiant is flying next to her and, flowing on the parchment over them, a red, green, and silver Quetzalcoatl, the Mexican National Team’s symbol. The Valentina on the drawing does a barrel roll halfway through the parchment -- something Valentina hasn’t even mastered yet -- and as she does so Valiant flies around with her even as the Quetzalcoatl turns itself into a circle to surround them.

Valentina struggles to find her words as Juliana hands the drawing to her. Realising that her mouth is still open, she closes it and licks her lip. “ _Esta hermosa,_ ” she says finally, her voice a reverent whisper. “ _Me encanta._ ” She looks up at Juliana, her eyes a little watery. “ _Juls… gracias._ ”

“ _No, gracias a ti,_ ” Juliana says. “I wouldn’t have been able to make that without these pens that you gave me,” she says, waving at the items on the table. “I’ve been wanting to make a moving drawing, so thank _you_.”

Valentina shakes her head, because Juliana can never seem to realise how valuable the things she makes are. Not knowing how to convince her of it, Valentina carefully puts the drawing on the table then throws her arms around Juliana.

*

Juliana closes her eyes and allows herself a smile as she revels in the feeling of Valentina’s comforting embrace. Valentina always gives the best hugs; she’s so glad she hasn’t completely lost her friendship because she took Valentina’s well-meaning gift the wrong way.

Valentina pulls back and gives Juliana a serious look, her hands on Juliana’s arm. “Let’s not fight like this again, okay?”

“Okay,” Juliana is quick to answer.

Valentina holds out her left hand, her pinky finger sticking out. “Promise?” she asks, her eyes clear and bright like the sky on a summer day.

Juliana stares at the offered hand. Even at eleven years old, she knows that promises are rarely ever kept, but she doesn’t care. No one has ever asked her for a pinky promise before, and she feels like this is one she could keep. She and Valentina only fell out for less than a day and already it was the worst day she’s had in Ilvermorny.

She sticks out her own pinky finger to link with Valentina’s, so eagerly that she knocks her fists against Valentina’s instead. They try again, giggling at their clumsiness.

Juliana stares up at Valentina when they finally manage to link their pinky fingers together. “Promise,” she says seriously.

Valentina’s face split into a wide smile which Juliana mirrors unconsciously. Try as they might, they can’t stop the laughter that breaks out from their chests. It’s the only way they can express the abiding joy that their blossoming friendship always brings out in both of their hearts, much more dearly valued now after its first test.

 

* * *

 

**_Bonus:_ **

Their laughter is interrupted by a low rumbling sound. They stare at each other curiously, then the rumbling starts again, clearly coming from Valentina’s stomach. Valentina gives a sheepish smile, her ears going pink.

Juliana can’t help it. She giggles delightedly, tickled by the blush spreading from Valentina’s ears down to her neck.

“Shut up,” Valentina says in a whine, though she’s not making any effort to stop the smile breaking through her face. “I haven’t had dinner.”

Juliana stops giggling and gives her a commiserating pout. “Me neither.”

Valentina pouts back at her. “Don’t skip dinner!” she says in a mock-scolding tone that doesn’t really take.

“ _You_ skipped dinner,” Juliana retorts, chuckling.

“Yeah, but…” Valentina shrugs helplessly, clearly not knowing how to continue.

Juliana laughs again. Valentina can really be so ridiculous sometimes. She stands up and stretches, then offers a hand to Valentina, who’s looking up at her with bright eyes.

“Come on,” says Juliana, tilting her head in the direction of the small kitchen that’s installed adjacent to the Pukwudgie common room. The kitchen is normally used by fifth to seventh year students pulling an all-nighter to study for big exams, but there’s nothing stopping younger students from making use of it as well. “I’ll make us something.”

Valentina lets herself get pulled up to her feet. She bumps into Juliana as she stands and they almost fall over, but they both laugh it off.

“Wait,” Valentina says, dropping Juliana’s hand. She picks up the drawing on the table and carefully tucks it inside the sketchbook, which she then places next to the Magic Motion pens. That done, she turns back to Juliana with a smile and holds out her hand. “Let’s go?”

Juliana returns Valentina’s smile, taking her offered hand, and they walk the short distance to the kitchen.

 

“How hungry are you?” Juliana asks as they enter the kitchen. “I can cook us something if you want. Or I can prepare a midnight snack.”

“You know how to cook?” Valentina asks, her eyes widening in awe.

Juliana laughs at Valentina’s amazement over a simple task. “Of course.”

“I want to try your cooking,” Valentina begins, “but I’ll just have the snack now, I think.” She’s so hungry that she just needs something small but easy to prepare.

“Yeah, I prefer a snack too,” Juliana agrees. She opens a cupboard and takes out a sliced loaf of bread in a plastic wrapping. “Toast?”

Valentina nods eagerly. “I’ll help you.”

“Are you sure? I mean, do you know how to make toast?” Juliana asks teasingly.

“Very funny,” Valentina retorts. She doesn’t actually know how to make toast, but there’s no need for Juliana to know that.

Juliana chuckles then starts on the task at hand with the easy confidence of someone who has prepared food multiple times before, but she stops short as she faces the toaster.

“What?” Valentina asks.

Juliana turns to her. “I’ve only used electric toasters before.” She prods at the stone-made toaster with a finger. There is nothing electric or even metallic about the magical device. “How does this work?”

Valentina would laugh, but she doesn’t know either. She’s gone through thirteen years of her life with someone always making toast for her.

“Oh, um...” she tries to think of how Chivis does it, but remembers that Chivis prefers to toast bread directly with a spell. Then she remembers Eva, who’s also not quite great in the kitchen, simply tapping the toaster at the Carvajal mansion with her wand.

Valentina takes out her wand and approaches the toaster. Juliana steps back to give her space. “I think you just, um…” she stares down at the small device in front of her. It looks daunting. She takes a deep breath, then taps her wand on the toaster.

 

Juliana isn’t quite certain what happened. One moment, she’s standing next to Valentina, the next, she’s on her butt on the floor with Valentina sitting between her legs, her weight partly on Juliana.

Valentina quickly twists around and cups her face. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, what--” Juliana looks around the kitchen. There’s a layer of black dust on every surface except for the small semicircular area on the floor on which she and Valentina are sitting. “What happened?”

“Um,” Valentina scratches her head. “The toaster exploded.”

“What!” Juliana exclaims. “Are you alright?” she asks, putting a hand on Valentina’s shoulder. Valentina was standing closer to the toaster than she was.

“Yeah,” Valentina says, nodding. “I managed to cast _Protego_ , the protection spell. Are _you_ alright? Did I crush you?”

“No-- I mean, no, you didn’t crush me,” says Juliana. “I’m alright.” She thinks of something distinctly lacking in the explosion. “Was there a boom from the explosion? I didn’t hear it. Do you think the others heard something?” They are so going to get in trouble for this.

“It’s alright, I cast a silencing charm.”

Juliana gapes at Valentina, at her bright blue eyes, at the stray strands of hair on her face, at the casual earnestness of her expression. Suddenly, she bursts out laughing. Trust Valentina to mess up with a toaster but have the magical abilities and reflexes to cast two spells almost simultaneously and to perfection.

“What? What’s so funny?”

Juliana’s only response is to put an arm around Valentina’s shoulder as she laughs even harder. Valentina joins in, both in delight at Juliana’s amusement and in relief that nothing majorly disastrous happened.

Eventually, their laughter peter out into bursts of giggles.

“You are so…” Juliana tries to come up with the perfect word, but nothing comes to her, “... _you_ , you know that?”

“What?” Valentina asks, her smile turning lopsided. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing,” Juliana says as she looks down, suddenly shy.

“I’m still hungry,” Valentina says.

Juliana smiles up at her. She looks around, her eyes falling on the loaf of sliced bread on their part of the floor, not covered by black dust. Miraculously, it’s still in its plastic wrapping, unharmed. Juliana disentangles herself from Valentina and stretches to grab the bread.

“Uh, there’s this.”

“You know what, that will do, I’m so hungry.”

Juliana opens the pack of bread and offers it to Valentina, who takes a slice out of it. She also takes out a slice for herself and starts eating.

“This is awful,” Valentina complains after two bites of the cold and untoasted bread. She takes out her wand. “Maybe I should try and toast it directly. I think I remember what spell Chivis used.”

Juliana almost drops her own slice as she scrambles to put a hand on Valentina’s wand. “No,” she says, staring Valentina in the eyes.

Valentina pouts, but seems to get what she’s trying saying. “Fine, but this is awful though.”

“I think I saw a peach in the cupboard. Do you want that?”

Valentina’s expression transforms into a sweet smile. “Yes, please.”

Juliana giggles again before standing up, but she only manages to take one step before she comes up to a part of the floor that’s covered with black dust. She takes in the similar state of the kitchen. She turns back to Valentina, who is also getting to her feet.

“Uh, Val, do you know any cleaning spells?”

Valentina looks around the kitchen and grimaces. “No.” She looks at Juliana with a hopeless expression and asks, “Do you?”

Juliana has only known about magic for less than three months, so, “No.”

 

Juliana gets her first ever detention the very next day, to be served over the course of a week. But the punishment -- arranging books in the library without magic -- turns out to be very enjoyable. No one thought to separate her and Valentina.

**Author's Note:**

> Why yes, Valentina would absolutely name her owl after herself.


End file.
